In 1882, Ernest Renan, a French philosopher who was the descendant of fishermen, delivered a speech at the Sorbonne in Paris that was titled “Qu’est-ce qu’une nation?” (“What Is a Nation?”). He was among the first writers to attempt to distinguish the concept of a nation from a more limited or narrow sense of ethnic or racial identity, noting the “graver mistake” occurs when “race is confused with nation.”
